Tech by Words: April 2020

Thursday, 30 April 2020

Worldwide smartphone shipments fall below 300 million, down 11.7% YoY in Q1 2020 due to COVID-19

Worldwide smartphone shipments decreased 11.7% year over year in Q2 2020, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. In total, companies shipped a 275.8 million smartphones during quarter making this is the largest annual (year over year) decline ever and the first time smartphone market has fallen … Continue reading

Apple reports $11.2 billion profit on $58.3 billion revenue in FY Q2 2020, iPhone sales decline due to COVID-19

Apple has reported quarterly revenue of $58.3 billion, up 1% over last year with a net profit of $11.2 billion, down 3.11% YoY and earnings per diluted share of $2.55 for the financial year Q2 2020 that ended March 28, 2020. During earnings call Tim Cook said that it has posted an all-time record Services … Continue reading

Intel 10th Gen Comet Lake Core i3, i5 and i7 desktop processors with turbo speeds up to 5.3GHz announced

Intel has finally launched their 10th Gen Intel Core Comet Lake S-series processors for desktop, with its flagship Core i9-10900K processor that can turbo boost up to 5.3 GHz. These processors have many technologies like Intel Thermal Velocity Boost, Intel Hyperthreading Technology, Intel Ethernet Connection I225, Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 and more. The 10th Gen … Continue reading

How to install MIUI 12 live ‘Super Wallpaper’ on any Android phone?

Xiaomi introduced its next-generation custom Android skin – MIUI 12 earlier this week and it brings improved visual effects, new wallpapers, privacy improvements, and more. One of the interesting addition in MIUI 12 is the new live ‘Super Wallpaper’ that indeed looks gorgeous. While it was designed exclusively to Xiaomi devices, thanks to developers at … Continue reading

Reliance Jio reports Rs. 2331 crore profit, up 177.5% YoY in FY Q4 2019-20

Reliance Jio has reported Rs. 14,835 crore revenue, up 6.2% QoQ and 26.6% YoY and a net profit of 2,331 crore, up 177.5% YoY for last quarter that ended 31st March 2020. Jio reported Standalone earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 6,201 crore, up 10.7% QoQ, EBITDA margin of 41.8%, and Standalone … Continue reading

Amazon Pay Later instant credit line launched in India

Instant Credit line has become popular among consumers lately, thanks to several platforms like LazyPay, Simpl, Mi Credit, realme PaySa, CRED Stash, and more offering instant credit to users. On similar lines, Amazon Pay is the newest entrant in this segment and has announced its instant credit line in India – Amazon Pay Later. Amazon … Continue reading

Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite with 6.47-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, Snapdragon 730G, 64MP quad rear cameras, 5260mAh battery announced

Along with the Redmi Note 9 series, Xiaomi also introduced the Mi Note 10 Lite smartphone, as it had promised. It packs a 6.47-inch Full HD+ curved AMOLED display with 3.43mm small chin, is powered by Snapdragon 730G with up to 8GB of RAM and runs Android 10 with MIUI 11. It has a 64-megapixel … Continue reading

Redmi Note 9 with 6.53-inch FHD+ display, Helio G85, 48MP quad rear cameras, 5020mAh battery announced

Along with the global launch of Redmi Note 9 Pro the company also introduced the Redmi Note 9 for the global markets, as it had promised. It has a 6.53-inch Full HD+ LCD screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Protection, is the first smartphone to be powered by the MediaTek Helio G85 8nm SoC. It … Continue reading

Redmi Note 9 Pro with 6.67-inch FHD+ Dotdisplay, Snapdragon 720G, 64MP quad rear cameras, 5020mAh battery announced for global markets

Xiaomi just announced the Redmi Note 9 Pro for the global markets. It was introduced as Redmi Note 9 Pro Max in India last month, but there is a slight change in the camera design and it has a 16-megapixel front camera. It packs a 6.67-inch Full HD+ LCD screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 … Continue reading

Lexar introduces Professional Multi-Card 3-in-1 USB 3.1 and Multi-Card 2-in-1 Readers

Lexar, a popular company in the storage memory products has introduced two new products; Multi-Card 3-in-1 Reader and the Multi-Card 2-in-1 Reader. The 3-1 card reader will support SD, microSD and Compact Flash cards while the 2-1 card reader will support SD/ microSD UHS-II cards. The Lexar Multi-Card 3-in-1 Reader is designed for professionals in … Continue reading

HONOR 9A with 6.3-inch 20:9 display, triple rear cameras, 5000mAh battery, HONOR 9C and HONOR 9S announced

HUAWEI’s HONOR brand has silently announced HONOR 9A, 9C and 9S smartphones in Russia. These phones have an HD+ screen. The HONOR 9A and 9S are powered by MediaTek Helio P22 SoC, while the 9C is powered by Kirin 710A SoC and also comes with a punch-hole screen. The 9A and 9C pack triple rear … Continue reading

TikTok crosses 2 Billion downloads globally; India tops downloads

The entertainment platforms have witnessed a surge lately with people staying at home. TikTok is one such popular short-video sharing service that has now crossed a whopping 2 Billion downloads globally and this comes just 5 months after it crossed 1.5 Billion downloads. According to a report from Sensor Tower Store Intelligence, TikTok app has been installed … Continue reading

Q1 2020 Worldwide tablet shipments decline 18.1% YoY, only 24.6 million units shipped: IDC

As the entire mobile devices experience a slow down in sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide tablet shipments have taken an extra hard hit as the International Data Corporation (IDC) has reported that shipments have reduced to 24.6 million units which calculates to a decline of 18.1% YoY. Interestingly, the Detachables market saw a … Continue reading

realme X2 realme UI Software Update Tracker [Update: C.07 Fixes Silent Video Playback Issue]

realme launched the realme X2 smartphone running ColorOS 6.1 realme edition on top of Android 9.0 (Pie). The smartphone has already received Android 10 based realme UI 1.0 update. realme UI brings new features such as dual earphone connection, animated wallpapers, screen-off display, customizable icon shape, new charging animation, realme Share (cross-brand file-sharing technology) and more. Check out this post to … Continue reading

realme 3 Pro realme UI Software Update Tracker [Update: C.05 update with April Android security patch and DocVault ID Feature]

realme launched the realme 3 Pro in the country back in April running ColorOS 6.0 based on Android 9.0 (Pie). The smartphone has already received Android 10 based realme UI 1.0 update. realme UI brings new features such as dual earphone connection, animated wallpapers, screen-off display, customizable icon shape, new charging animation, realme Share (cross-brand file-sharing technology) and more. … Continue reading

realme 3 and realme 3i realme UI Software Update Tracker [Update: Android 10 based realme UI 1.0 C.09 brings new Charging Animation]

realme launched realme 3 smartphone in India back in March last year, later in July it launched realme 3i, a cheaper version. These devices had Android 9.0 based ColorOS 6 out of the box, both the smartphones have already started receiving Android 10 based realme UI 1.0 update. realme UI brings new features such as dual earphone … Continue reading

Google Meet now open to everyone with Gmail account

It looks like Google is trying to compete with Zoom as it has announced that they will be making their premium video conferencing service, Google Meet, free for anyone with a Gmail account. The service was previously exclusive to G Suite users but now will be rolled out widely to everyone over the coming weeks. … Continue reading

Nokia 125 and new Nokia 150 feature phones surface; could launch soon

HMD Global has been quickly expanding its feature phone line-up lately like the Nokia 5310, Nokia 110, Nokia 2720, and more. On similar lines, the company is set to expand the line-up further with two new feature phones soon, according to new a report. Nokia 125 and Nokia 150 (2020) are the new feature phones … Continue reading

Nokia 1 Plus gets Android 10 Go Edition update

HMD Global has started rolling out Android 10 update for the Nokia 1 Plus Android Go Edition phone smartphone, which makes it the 14th Nokia phone to get the update after the Nokia 8.1, Nokia 9 PureView, Nokia 7.1, Nokia 6.1 Plus, Nokia 7 Plus, Nokia 6.1, Nokia 2.2, Nokia 7.2, Nokia 3.2, Nokia 4.2, Nokia 8 Sirocco, Nokia 2.3 and Nokia 6.2. The phone … Continue reading

Wednesday, 29 April 2020

Amazfit Bip S with 1.28-inch color touch display, heart rate sensor, GPS, up to 30 days battery life starts rolling out

Huami introduced the Amazfit Bip S at the CES earlier this year after 3 years of the release of the first Bip. Now it has started rolling out the smartwatch in China. It comes with Huami-PAI, which the company calls revolutionary indicator of personal activity. It features a colourful transflective display, 30g ultra lightweight design, … Continue reading

iOS 13.5 beta 3 brings COVID-19 exposure notifications, unlock the phone with passcode while wearing face mask and more

Earlier this month Apple and Google announced a joint effort to enable APIs and operating system-level technology to assist in enabling contact tracing using Bluetooth in the phones. The companies also announced they will release APIs that enable interoperability between Android and iOS devices using apps from public health authorities. Today Apple has released Beta … Continue reading

Apple settles $18 million lawsuit over iPhone 4 FaceTime issue

Apple has agreed to settle a $18 million lawsuit that was filed over 3 years ago over its handling of FaceTime with users having an iPhone 4 or an iPhone 4s. The claimants argued that the company had disabled FaceTime in the older iPhone models as a cost saving measure in 2014. The issue affected … Continue reading

Reliance Jio crediting 2GB per day for 4 days for free

The usage of mobile data has increased lately with people working from home and as a part of a special offer, Reliance Jio credited 2GB daily data free for its users last month. Similarly, the company is now crediting 2GB of daily data to users randomly under ‘Jio Data Pack’ offer. The free 2GB daily … Continue reading

realme X realme UI Software Update Tracker [Update: C.03 with April Android Security Patch and DocVault ID]

realme launched the realme X smartphone in India back in July running ColorOS 6.0 on top of Android 9.0 (Pie). The smartphone has already received Android 10 based realme UI 1.0 update. realme UI brings new features such as dual earphone connection, animated wallpapers, screen-off display, customizable icon shape, new charging animation, realme Share (cross-brand file-sharing technology) … Continue reading

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra Review – Bragging Rights

A flagship smartphone from any brand must go beyond the limits set by its predecessors, or its competitors. If it doesn’t, a big question mark hangs over not just the device, but over the person buying it as well. No doubt the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra goes well beyond the limits set by its predecessors. … Continue reading

LG Mobile losses continue in Q1 2020 despite 88% jump in overall profits; expects sales decline in Q2 due to COVID-19

LG Electronics has reported revenues of 14.73 trillion won (US$ 12.45 billion) for the fourth quarter that ended March 31, 2020, which is down 1.25% compared to the same quarter last year. It posted profits of 1.09 billion won (US$ 921.47 million), up 21% YoY, making this only the second time in history when quarterly … Continue reading

MIUI 12 New Features and First look on Redmi Note 7 Pro (Android 10)

Xiaomi announced the latest iteration of its own proprietary Android skin MIUI, dubbed MIUI 12 along with Mi 10 Youth Edition at an event in China earlier this week. MIUI 12 brings brand-new Animations, Dark Mode 2.0, and focuses on Privacy and security. MIUI 12 shows all sensitive behaviours of an app and comes with improved … Continue reading

MediaTek Dimensity 1000 SoC to feature first ever hardware AV1 video decoder

Recently, AV1 (AOMedia Video 1) is gaining popularity thanks to its royalty-free licensing model and good compression rates for content. However, the codec has largely been absent for streaming content on the smartphone due to the lack of a decoder. That is about to change as the MediaTek’s upcoming Dimensity 1000 5G SoC has an … Continue reading

India smartphone shipments up 4% YoY in Q1 2020; Vivo surpasses Samsung: Report

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted several industries and business across the world including the smartphone industry. While the shipments increased 10% YoY during Q4 2019, the Q1 2020 report shows a modest growth as COVID-19 impacted shipments late in the Quarter. According to Counterpoint Research, smartphone shipments in India crossed just over 31 million units … Continue reading

Alphabet records $41.16 billion in revenue for Q1 2020, up 13% YoY

Google’s parent company, Alphabet had a strong beginning in revenue for the first quarter of 2020 but later saw a dip towards the end. In an earnings call, Alphabet released its Q1 2020 results, reporting a total revenue of $41.16 billion, that calculates to a YoY growth of 13%. The company saw a dip in … Continue reading

5 Reasons why OnePlus 8 Series is the best buy of 2020

The OnePlus 8 series is arguably one of the best smartphone line-ups in the market right now for a wide range of reasons. The latest outing from the OnePlus manages to leverage so much from its predecessors with some cutting-edge features. Notably, the OnePlus 8 series not only features specifications that match the big competitions … Continue reading

Tuesday, 28 April 2020

Realme 5/5s ColorOS Software Update Tracker [Update: A.28 update with April Android security patch]

realme launched the realme 5 smartphone in India running ColorOS 6.0 realme edition on top of Android 9.0 (Pie). The company recently launched the realme 5s, an enhanced version of the realme 5 with 48 MP primary camera in India. realme doesn’t follow a fixed update frequency but the company rolls out updates frequently. This post will help our … Continue reading

Redmi Note 10 and Redmi Note 10 Pro 5G phones with Dimensity 800 and Dimensity 800+ expected in May

Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 9 Pro and Note 9 Pro Max smartphones in India last month, but it didn’t launch these in China. Now the company is said to be planning to launch the Redmi Note 10 and Redmi Note 10 Pro 5G phones in China with 5G support since the company will be … Continue reading

Samsung’s mobile profits up 16.7% YoY in Q1 2020; expects smartphone sales to decline significantly due to COVID-19

Samsung has reported its earnings for Q1 2020 that ended March 31, 2020 in which the company has made revenue of 55.33 trillion won, a decrease of 7.6% from the previous quarter mainly due to weak seasonality for the Company’s display business and Consumer Electronics Division and partially due to effects of COVID-19. Revenue rose … Continue reading

OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro pre-book offer on Amazon India offers Rs. 1000 additional cashback

OnePlus introduced its flagship OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro flagship smartphones at its online event earlier this month and announced the pricing for the phones last week, which start at Rs. 41,999 for the OnePlus 8 and Rs. 54,999 for the 8 Pro. Today the company has started pre-bookings on Amazon.in via gift card … Continue reading

Amazfit X smartwatch with 2.07-inch curved AMOLED screen, GPS, 50-meter water resistance announced

Huami just announced the Amazfit X smartwatch on Indiegogo as it had promised. It has a 2.07-inch 326 PPI 92° curved screen wraps comfortably around your wrist. The company says that it uses 700°C hot bending FPC-connected three-piece motherboard to achieve this so it offers more room for apps and less time spent scrolling. The … Continue reading

OnePlus Z 5G smartphone said to be announced in July

OnePlus announced its latest OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro smartphones at an online event recently as expected, but there was no word on the “Lite” model – OnePlus Z at the event. While it was expected to be unveiled alongside the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro, new reports now suggest that the company could … Continue reading

Bluetooth pairing with wireless earbuds to get easier on Android with Fast Pair

The age of wireless earbuds and accessories is upon us and the convenience and stability of Bluetooth connections has become ever more important. Pairing Bluetooth wireless earbuds can sometime be a painful process and can often result in poor connectivity. To tackle this, Google introduced Fast Pair for Android phones (from Android 6.0+) and has … Continue reading

realme Smartwatch with 1.4-inch LCD screen, heart rate monitoring, IP68 water resistant body surfaces

When realme launched the realme Band, they had also teased more wearables for the future. Among them was a smartwatch called the Realme Watch that was shown for a second on realme CEO, Madhav Sheth’s hand in a Q&A video last month. Now, xdadevelopers has acquired design renders of the smartwatch along with photos of … Continue reading

Mi Note 10 Lite with 6.47-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, quad rear cameras to be announced on April 30 alongside Redmi Note 9

Xiaomi recently confirmed that it will introduce Redmi Note 9 smartphone in a global event online on April 30. Today the company has confirmed that it will also introduce Mi Note 10 Lite alongside. This was certified by the FCC with the model number M2002F4LG few months back and the phone has also been certified … Continue reading

Xiaomi introduces Mi Bluetooth Earphones Line Free with Qualcomm aptX Adaptive low latency technology

Xiaomi along with the Mi 10 Youth Edition and MIUI 12 also introduced Mi Bluetooth Earphones Line Free Edition with QCC5125 flagship chipset which supports Qualcomm aptX Adaptive low latency technology of as low as 80ms. It automatically adjusts between providing the best quality audio or lower latency streaming based on the audio content that … Continue reading

Nokia 6.2 Android 10 update starts rolling out

HMD Global has started rolling out Android 10 update for the Nokia 6.2 smartphone, which makes it the 13th Nokia phone to get the update after the Nokia 8.1, Nokia 9 PureView, Nokia 7.1, Nokia 6.1 Plus, Nokia 7 Plus, Nokia 6.1, Nokia 2.2, Nokia 7.2, Nokia 3.2, Nokia 4.2, Nokia 8 Sirocco, and Nokia 2.3. Nokia 6.2 was launched in India last year … Continue reading

Sony Xperia L4 with 6.2-inch 21:9 display, triple rear cameras announced [Update: Now rolling out]

Update: April 28, 2020 – Sony has started rolling out the phone starting from Europe for €199 (US$ 216 / Rs. 16,425 approx.) and in UK for £169 (US$ 211 / Rs. 16,035 approx.). Earlier: Sony Mobile has announced Xperia L4 smartphone, successor of last year’s Xperia L3. The phone packs a 6.2-inch HD+ LCD … Continue reading

Xiaomi begins working on MIUI 13

Xiaomi announced the MIUI 12, the company’s latest UI yesterday in China with several improvements over MIUI 11. While the update is set to be rolled out to Xiaomi/Redmi devices starting June 2020, Xiaomi has already started working on MIUI 13 and the announcement comes right after MIUI 12 launch yesterday. Xiaomi confirmed this development … Continue reading

Airtel partners with Nokia to strengthen 4G connectivity and prepare for 5G networks

Airtel has announced its partnership with Nokia with multi-year agreement to deploy Nokia’s Single Radio Access Network (SRAN) solution to enhance Airtel 4G connectivity and also lay the groundwork for Airtel’s 5G rollout in the future. The deployment is expected to be completed by 2022 and will be rolled out in 9 circles across India. … Continue reading

Noise Shots X5 Pro with aptX, 150 hours battery life with 2200mAh charging case launched for Rs. 4999

Noise, popular for its wearables has launched Noise Shots X5 Pro, the company’s latest true wireless earbuds with Bluetooth 5.0, Qualcomm aptX and AAC support. The headset has voice assistant support on Android and iOS and comes with IPX7 rating for water resistance from sweat and rain. It comes with a C-Type charging case, promises … Continue reading

Google Meet adds low-light mode for Android and iOS

Getting good lighting conditions when participating in a video call is not always easy for everyone, especially with natural light. To help with this, Google is introducing a default low-light mode to its Meet app for iOS and Android, a feature that’s already found in Google Duo on mobile devices. Once the feature rolls out, … Continue reading

WhatsApp now lets 8 participants in group voice and video calls [Update: Now rolling out widely]

Update-28th April 2020: WhatsApp v2.20.141 web release is now available to download from WhatsApp’s official website and this version now supports up to 8 people in group voice and video calls. Users who are not on WhatsApp beta version are recommended to side load this APK. Similarly, WhatsApp for iOS v2.20.50 has been updated to … Continue reading

DJI Mavic Air 2 with 48MP camera, 8K Hyperlapse video, FocusTrack and more announced

DJI, the company known for its drones, stabilizers has now announced its latest product – Mavic Air 2 which is a successor of the Mavic Air launched back in 2018. Mavic Air 2 comes after the launch of Mavic mini and includes several improvements over the 2018 Mavic Air. The Mavic Air 2 sports an … Continue reading

Monday, 27 April 2020

Qualcomm Quick Charge 3+ announced, can charge devices from 0% to 50% in 15 minutes

Qualcomm introduced Quick Charge 3 fast charging technology back in 2015 for both smartphones powered by both flagship and mid-range SoCs at that time. Even though the company had introduced Quick Charge 4 in 2016 and Quick Charge 4+ in 2017, the company has now announced Quick Charge 3 fast charging technology for mid-range smartphones. … Continue reading

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Thursday, 30 April 2020

Wednesday, 29 April 2020

Tuesday, 28 April 2020

Monday, 27 April 2020